at what age do gsd's begin to have wider bodies? - Page 1

my 9 mos old male pup is a huge dog, at the moment he really looks skinny that his elbows tend to point inwards.... towards the rib cage. ive been constantly walking this dog and right now its improving a bit, but ive noticed that his rib cage is narrow that the front legs tend to point a little outwards. ive seen the dogs sire and dam and both were quite thick dogs so im hoping that when this pup matures he will have a huge body to compensate his awkward looking front legs... does this dog have a chance? are gsd's supposed to be like this? thanks guys

German shepherds are not supposed to be VERY wide -- think about how it would vastly reduce their ability to move well. They usually look wider than they are because of mature coat (or due to unhealthy fat). But every dog, especially a male, gets much more substantial from nine months to maturity. A male is only about 3/4 of his final weight at that age, yet he is already just about his final height. Twenty pounds of mass will increase his width and look substantially. As for his east-west front, even this will correct itself, at least partly.

Some showlines especially American and some German have bred for a taller more narrow and somwhat more refined look (lighter bone). MVF is correct in that he should start filling out but his chest and body will thicken some but the width between his front legs will likely not change much. Least in my expereince.

Our males, working lines, filled out through the chest until almost 3-years old. It start out witht he chest getting longer top to bottom, then filling in. 9-months is still a baby, give him time.

Trying to find the right words to say this... At 9 months you know what you have, your dog will fill in and mature but it's not going to be anything drastic. Go look at pics of a pup at 9 months and then once he is grown and you will see what I am trying to say.

thanks guys..... im just really concerned at this moment coz i know he is in a very important stage in his growth and im afraid that if ever i make a lil mistake it will do undue damage to his joints, structure.... ive been having trouble feeding him if i feed him 5-6 cups of proplan pup a day his pastern will start to weaken if i reduce his food he will look to skinny and the east-west fronts will become prominent. thank you very much. yup, thats my problem desertrangers/animules, coz he's a really huge dog i sometimes forget that he's still a puppy